5 stages to plan for in your PR life

People who know me know I talk with my hands. So it makes sense I'd count out with my five fingers of my right hand the five stages to plan for in your PR life. Apologies in advance for all the jabby gesturing about to follow. But thanks for counting along.

First stage. You hoist a house, your brand house, to present a neat and tidy version of yourself. You'll have a welcome mat (ahem, your messaging), know who you are (positioning), and present a memorable identity (digital, graphical, searchable, and printable too). Welcoming in your first impression--cause nothing says Hello better than Hello--you'll know who you are, and who you want to introduce.

Second stage. You'll realize you're not different. Yet. You're not different until someone visits with you and says 'You make a difference,' and agrees with you that you're different. And then you'll have arrived at the “media work” stage. The getting of people to test you, validate you, tell other people about you--to begin to credential and profile you, and raise the visibility and interest in you-- whether you own the media, earn it, make it shared or pay for it.

Third stage. Once people recognize you, let alone expect something of you, you'll need to meet—no, sorry exceed—those expectations. The way you'll show yourself exceeding expectations is the customer marketing and acquisition stage, (and also stakeholder engagement and relations). This is about living up to your now familiar, referenced and referred, and hopefully recommended homey persona. You'll fast sense that having one customer or stakeholder is the chance to have many. And, to lose one customer/stakeholder is the likelihood of losing them all.

Fourth stage. It might not work. More than likely, something will absolutely not go right in your business and then in your PR life. You'll take a mulligan or at least want to. And that's known as the proverbial pivot. Don't fret it. This will be you. This is every entrep at least once -- big enterprises too. Usually more than once. I had a client that started out by making microscopes about 100 years ago. Then they became known for cameras. Then it was just the lenses. Now it's colonoscopies and colonoscopes. We'll call this brand (shift) strategy, brand (equity) building and corporate (makeover) marketing. Here you'll see yourself return to remodeling your home, freshening up your narrative, retooling your media profile, and changing something in your customer and stakeholder mix, as well as how you engage.

Fifth stage. You may go away. The offed kind of go away, sadly--a business death. Or you may not. You may find enlightenment, as analyst firm Gartner would say in their hype cycle research. And then you may reach “dematurity". Not my word. Someone at HBR said it once, and also the contributors to Strategy+Business. Not that that makes it a real word. Actually, that definitely makes it not a word. Still, you'll need the right communications for your potential passing (crisis and issues preparedness) or its life in perpetuity (reputation management). Often this is called corporate communications and affairs.

Now when I hold up my hand and wiggle each of the five reminding fingers, I might call out attention to Lending Club as an example. They are a microcosm of the PR life stages I describe.

Over Lending Club’s 10 years, they built a truly beautiful house, followed by much deserved and earned fanfare, and many hyper engaged customers (and most recently improving EPS for their investor stakeholders too). Then came a bit of a pivot and remaking, followed by enlightened belief and a befitting IPO. But now where may they be—it seems straight to existential reputation management. 

This isn't commentary on how they performed in each stage, nor how they will or should handle the current days' events. That will need to be for another day. Still, while I am saddened by Renauld Laplanche's dismissal, I have confidence Lending Club (not my client) will make it through this cycle shaken, but not shattered.

And, while I've described stages, this isn't to say it won't all happen at once, or in some other sequence. "What a cluster!" happens in your PR life, as much as your real life. So say that messed up, all at once day does arrive, and it will, I might clench my hand up now to remind you later to also give the Rock, Paper, Scissors approach a go.

That is, remember to play the right hand when it's needed. Watch the patterns of yourself and your market (measurement and insights), and use your knowledge to prepare the best you can to act across all the touch points mentioned. Your whole PR life story is about interdisciplinary communications, after all. Hand gestures welcome.